Fairweather Tom, Halfling Thief, arrived at the city of Secularum from the Five Shires (with a detour to the Northern Wood) with the throngs of people from the surrounding areas coming into the city for the Fesitval of Lucor.

After a brief encounter with the Sergeant of the Gate, Tom made it safely into the city proper, following the crowds and picking a couple of pockets as we wandered.

Not far from the Main Gate, Mandark the Chemist was attending the yearly Chemists’ Convention. It was the typical, boring convention until someone was accidently set aflame, and a Cleric was sent for Garen, the Thyatian Cleric for the Church of Traladara, was having a typical day until he was called for an emergency call at the Chemists’ Convention

Racing to the scene, Garen successfully put out the fire and saved the burning man’s life with a timely potion of Cure Light Wounds

Impressed with Garen’s action, Mandark decided to let him in on his mission: to find a rare element connected with the Philospher’s Stone in the woods south of Secularum; one problem though: the woods south of Secularum are the Duke’s estate, summer palace, and personal hunting preserve. Anyone caught on these lands is treated as a poacher at best and guilty of treason at worst

Mandark invites Garen to the Gambling Goblin to discuss their plans

Nyx, a young Elf, arrived at Secularum with 2 purposes: to enquire about becoming one of the Elvenguard and to track down the Hafling thief that stole her family heirloom: a badge that belonged to her deceased mother from when she was in the Elvenguard

Some investigating brought Nyx to the Main Gate to find Sergeant Erwin, but he was off duty and headed to the Gambling Goblin, a tavern well known for its pro-Thyation stance and heavy contingent of City Guard and Guard Phorsis among its regulars

Nyx headed to the Gambling Goblin, unaware of its staunch, anti-demihuman stance

In the meantime, Fairweather Tom was looking for a Chemist who could provide him with glue in order to get around the city’s strict weapon-binding laws

Nyx barely avoids a very ugly confrontation at the Gambling Goblin and is subsequently thrown out from the tavern along with Garen and Mandark. They trade back stories and Nyx says she will help Mandark only if he assists in finding the Halfling thief first

Garen suggests that the best place to look would be the fireworks display in honor of Lucor to be held that evening; he reasons that a pickpocket could hardly resist such a closely packed and unguarded collection of purses

Fairweather Tom is attracted to the market where the fireworks display is being held; he figures that where there are fireworks there must be chemicals, and where there are chemicals, there are Chemists

Nyx immediately spots Tom at the fireworks display and heads after him as well as the crowds will allow; Garen moves in from the other side

Tom cannot help himself and tries to pick someone’s pocket; unfortunately he is caught

Tom’s victim turns and yells at the same time Nix arrives at the spot and they yell in unison, “Thief!”

Tom falls back and says, “You!” upon seeing Nix, but at that moment is caught in the iron grasp of Garen and promptly dragged back to his parish

Once searched, Tom’s belongings do not turn up the stolen badge and it is his word against Nyx’s; Mandark suggests they put aside their differences for the time being to help him find this rare element in the woods south of the city

Tom embarks on an impassioned speech that convinces the others to let him live; Mandark also makes a convincing argument (punctuated by 7-figure gold piece rewards) and the party agrees: they will have a temporary truce until they get the element and get their gold; then Tom had best give up the badge he stole or he will die by Nyx’s hand (though Nyx had never taken a life, that was soon to change)

The first task before the party was to get something to render into glue; a dog was chosen to be the victim and Specularum is crawling with strays

Getting astray almost proved disastrous for Nyx and Tom if not for a well-placed Sleep spell; once the glue is prepared, the party is able to modify the thongs on their weapons in such a way that they look tied down to the naked eye but are in fact quite loose

Asking around the city does not yield any solid facts about whether the temple mentioned by Mandark actually exists until Garen finds a journal from a minor noble in which he reports the location of the temple and the fact that it had haunted his dreams for months

The party sets out for the Duke’s woods and their first obstacle almost proves to be their last as all but Tom fall from the wall and almost die

Immediately following their successful traversal of the wall, the party comes across a band of 5 orcs while looking for a place to camp; they dispatch of the orks with little difficulty and Nyx has now taken her first life (the first of many ….)

Immediately following the battle with the orc scouting party, the party discovered two things: First, that Mandark was on the verge of death; second, all of the orcs had an image of an eye on the back of their hands in white war paint.

The party had do decide quickly what to do with both their wounded comrade as well as the dead orcs. They decided to find a local source of water and dispose of the orcs there.

Finding a stream, they were able to successfully dispose of the orcs; they also made a temporary camp for Mandark to heal and set off looking for the mysterious tower.

On the 2nd night in the forest, Nyx saw a campfire in the distance from their camp and awakened the rest of the party. They decided to investigate.

Garen went first and hailed the lone Dwarf that was camping there. The Dwarf was part of a caravan from the mountains and was en route toward the Duke’s Summer Palace with examples of his clan’s wares. They were ambushed by orcs and their heirlooms were taken; all the members of his caravan was slain aside from one dwarf, Eugene Anvilcrusher, leaving him alone and penniless. Now Eugene has sworn revenge on the orcs and is tracking them in the woods.

The party decides to tell Eugene about their own plight and an agreement is reached: Eugene will help them find the tower and they will help him track down the orcs that killed his kin and stole his clan’s heirlooms.

The next day the party sets out for the tower and they come upon it at the end of the day. In the dying daylight they examine the ruins at the hill above the tower in an attempt to find a tunnel that may lead to the tower without going over open ground.

As the party enters the 2nd set of ruins, they hear a large force of orcs running past the ruins on their way towards the tower. A small group of orcs see’s the party’s torchlight and peels off from the main group to attack the party.

The following combat was a bloody conflict, with losses on both sides. All 9 of the attacking orcs were slain. Nyx slew 3 orcs with her bow; Eugene felled 3 orcs with his axe, though he nearly succumbed to the fury of their assault; Tom assailed against 2 orcs and slew his third after Nyx took it down with a well-timed Sleep spell.

The victory was dampened by the loss of Garen, who was slain with a single blow from an orc’s scimitar.

The party divvied up the orcish loot and Garen’s possessions and then took stock of their situation. Tom’s curiosity was too much for him, however, and he had to investigate the tower further and see the results of the battle. Eugene was too wounded to go much further.

Tom snuck down to the tower’s courtyard where he was discovered by an Elf Troubadour by the name of Christopher Lockleif. Lockleif explained to Tom that he is the captain of an elite group that works for the Duke called the Shadow Guard; they have been sent to the tower to investigate why there are bands of orcs trying to get to the tower. They call the orcs the Clan of the White Hand for they all carry the same marking as the orcs Tom’s party encountered.

Christopher tells Tom that there is no way he alone or even his party can survive the courtyard, for the moment anyone enters they are assailed by unknown/unseen forces and killed outright. Only the orcs seem to be willing to enter the courtyard, but the Shadow Guard fears what they will release from the tower is of far greater evil than they themselves are.

However, should the party return with sufficient numbers, Christopher will allow 10 of his own Shadow Guard to accompany the party in an attempt to reach the tower, discover, and eliminate the evil within.

Tom returned to the party and explained what he learned. The party decided to return to Mandark and then Specularum to discuss their next move.

After returning to the city (and much richer due to the sale of orc loot), Nyx and Tom decide to show Eugene the jewelry from their first orc encounter. Eugene confirms that is some of the jewelry stolen from his clan. Nyx and Tom return the jewelry to Eugene who now swears fealty to them.

• Upon returning to Specularum, the party separates: Nyx and Tom find lodging in the city in order to plan their next move (@ the Specularum Inn! Located in the heart of Specularum! Just minutes from Specularum Highway!); Mandark returns to his Guild hall to recuperate.

• Once settling in at the Inn, Tom and Nyx pay a visit to the Cathedral of Traladara to inform the Bishop of Garen’s passing. The meeting with the Bishop does not go very well, but they do meet a druid named Zyran. Tom decides that the Bishop likes green things and brings a prickly thorn branch taken from the Bishop’s garden. Tom and Nyx are removed from the Cathedral with all haste after delivering their message. [TOM, 30 XP; NYX, 30 XP; ZYRAN, 30 XP]

• Upon returning to the street, Zyran appears out of a shadow and speaks with Nyx and Tom. They offer him a share of the treasure if he accompanies them on their raid of the mysterious tower.

• The best place in the city to look for mercenaries is the Gambling Goblin, but since they are biased against Elves, they party splits up: Nyx goes in search of a sage to learn more about the tower; Tom and Zyran go to the Gambling Goblin.

• Nyx meets Herschel Sagelore and his buxom young assistant, Eunice. He offers her 3 monster folios and 100gp in exchange for the journal that led them to the tower; Nyx accepts the offer. [NYX, 15 XP]

• Tom and Zyran meet the barkeep and owner of the Gambling Goblin, Jakob. An ex-soldier and mercenary himself, he offers to help them hire men as well as consult on needed items for their mission (for a modest fee). [TOM, 15 XP; ZYRAN, 15 XP]

• When Tom and Zyran return to the Inn (located in the heart of downtown Specularum!), the innkeeper tells Tom that he has a message. It is from Eugene. It says, “Tom, a most fortunate3 turn of events has occurred. The Duke loves the jewelry and ahs approved a very large order. I have told him of your bravery and he has granted an audience for you tomorrow. Be at the Palace tomorrow morning at 9AM. No weapons! And bring Nyx!”

• At 8AM the next morning a coach arrives to pick up the party and bring them to the Duke’s stronghold. They take the party to a pier and then on one of the Duke’s yachts to his private pier. Unfortunately, the trip does not suit Tom well, who had drunken way too much alcohol at the Gambling Goblin the night before. [TOM, 15 XP; NYX, 15 XP; ZYRAN, 15 XP]

• When the party arrives at the Duke’s private pier, they are met by Eugene, who is dressed as a Dwarven prince. He is shocked by their clothes and with the help of one of the Duke’s tailors, sees that the party is appropriately dressed for an audience with the Duke. Unfortunately the fitting takes longer than desired and the Duke has other pressing matters, so they miss their appointment; but a spokesman for the Duke says they are welcome to stay until dinner, where a special feast is being held in honor of the Festival of St Lucor.

• Throughout the day, the party is entertained and more and more guests arrive at the Duke’s grounds. Finally the hour of the feast arrives and everyone is summoned to the Dining Hall.

• During the feast, the party learns that the Lady Magda Toranescu of the Toranescu clan has been chosen to lead the Procession for the Festival. The Lady Magda is present at the feast as well as other members of the clan, certain members of local royalty and members of the Vorloi clan.

• Eugene explains a little bit of the political struggles going on in Specularum, with the 3 major clans (Toranescu, Vorloi, and Radu) fighting for control of the city.

• After the feast, the guests are led to the Gallery for further entertainment, but the party is invited to a private audience with the Duke in the Library. During this audience, the Duke reveals that Christopher Lockleaf has spoken to him and told him of their offer. He promises that should they defeat the evil in the woods that he would see that they are duly rewarded. [TOM, 20 XP; NYX, 20 XP; ZYRAN, 20 XP]

• The next day, Tom and Zyran return to the Gambling Goblin to talk to Jakob; Nyx continues to study the monster folios. [TOM, 15 XP; ZYRAN, 15 XP]

• After more searching, there appears to be nothing in the folios to be of any use; furthermore, it looks as if Herschel got the better end of his deal with Zyx; weapons in hand, the party returns to the sage’s shop to “discuss” this matter with him.

• The party learns that Hershcel is actually a good guy and quite honest (though a little absent minded); he helps the party by reading the journal to them (for 70 gp) and they learn a little bit more about ‘the Eye’ and ‘they Tyrant in the Tower’. Herschel’s interpretation of the journal is that there is an Eye Tyrant in the tower. [TOM, 15 XP; NYX, 20 XP; ZYRAN, 15 XP]

• Shaking off the recent events of a horrid orc attack on his hunting party, Elessar Silimaure arrives at Specularum in need of a safe place to rest, recoup, and gather his thoughts about his next move

• Elessar arrives at a city in full swing just prior to major celebration and makes his way to the Specularum Inn (Located in scenic Downtown Specularum! Just minutes from the Specularum Highway!)

• After securing a room at the Inn, Elessar makes his way to the Common Room where he is given a wide berth by festival celebrants at the sight of the travel-worn Elf bristling with armour and weapons

• Tom, Zyran, and Nyx make their way to the Inn’s Common Room which is unfortunately full, aside from seats at Elessar’s table

• The party makes a round of introductions and are discussing Adventuring life when the Innkeeper informs the party that there is a package arrived for them delivered by none other than Eugene Avnilbreaker

• Eugene was putting the final touches on the Duke’s crown for the next day’s procession when he is tasked to deliver a cache of weapons to his friends at the Inn

• The party, along with Elessar, make their way up to their suite and open a fine rosewood case containing mastercrafted (and obviously magical) weapons for each of them

• Eugene is skeptical and not very willing to just accept Elessar into the party without proving himself first; Elessar provides a demonstration of incredible martial skill and Eugene grudgingly allows him into the party

• The next day dawns and the party is in the head palanquin with the Duke and the Lady Torescu

• The Procession of St Lucor proceeds as expected with no surprises until the parade grinds to a halt; there was some kind of disturbance at the front of the procession where the bearers of the Effigy of St Lucor are

• The party makes their way to the front of the procession to find a heated argument in place between two members of the Radu clan and one member of the Toranescu clan; Zyran uses diplomatic skill and resolves the issue without it coming to blows and the procession is able to continue on

• No sooner is the Effigy of St Lucor set to sea when it is attacked by sea serpents

• The party grabs the nearest sloop and sails out to meet the serpents discovering too late that it is actually a 5 headed hydral; a fierce battle ensues

• The party is victorious against the hydra, though Tom came VERY close to dying (He claims he cannot die as he is a “protagonist”)

• Returning to the city, they are hailed as heroes of the city; the Duke is not on the shore when they return

• As they are departing the city they notice the gate is curiously empty and manned by Toranesu men. They inform the party that the Lady Magda would have an audience with them before they depart

• The party is led to a nearby house wherein they are invited to break fast w Lady Magda

• Lady Magda thanks them for their actions at the Festival if St Lucor and gives them a small token of her appreciation — the house they are dining in

• The party then proceeds to leave the city

• They are a day or so out of the city when they see several men on horseback blocking the road ahead and several tents to the side of the road

• Tom is sent ahead to scout and is discovered by the men when he falls out of a nearby tree (falling is proving to be more deadly than any enemy in this campaign!)

• The party sees what happens and rushes to Tom’s aide. They learn that the men are of the Radu clan and that Anton Radu himself seeks an audience with the party

• They cautiously enter Radu’s tent. Radu applauds them of their diplomacy at the festival and offs them several words of advice regarding trusting either the Duke or the Toranescu clan.

• Radu also expresses an interest in Eugene’s craft and places a huge order to the sum of 50,000 gold pieces. To show his seriousness he also gives Eugene a masterwork battle axe (+1).

• The party once again sets out for the mysterious tower

• In the meanwhile, Ash Greymantle was hired by an outlying village to find the source of a couple of recent Orc raids. The trail was easy enough to follow, but unfortunately, the finding the Orcs was not as easy, as the spotted her first and 25 Orcs promptly gave chase

• Luckily, Ash’s path intersected with the party as they made their way to the tower. 2 well timed Sleep spells made quick work of the Orcs, however, and the encounter was over before it began

• Eager to learn more about the Orcs, Ash joins the party on its way to the tower

• Upon arriving at the tower, the party turns of their Orc prisoner to Christopher Lockleaf and begin deploying the mercenaries

• Tom, impetuous as always, walks into the courtyard alone and it is instantly covered in a magical darkness. He sees lizard like men arise from the burning ash pit and tries to escape

• The party hears Tom’s cry for help and runs to his aide (again) but the Sleep spells are much less effective against these creatures — Firenewts! To make matters worse, 100 Orcs begin their nightly raid on the tower at the same time

• Caught between fire and Orcs, the party constructs a hasty battle plan and begins a desperate fight for survival

• After a long and serious battle, the Firenewts have temporarily retreated back to their lair, as did the Orcs

• Using a felled tree as a battering ram, the party smashes in the door to the tower now that is has been magically opened by a Knock spell and subsequently closed again by Tom, who charges in where angels fear to tread and found himself trapped just inside the tower

• Upon smashing down the door they find Tom just inside smoking his pipe. ‘What took you so long!?’

The party is once again reunited and wastes no time regrouping their efforts and maximizing the gap in the assault of the Fire Newts

They begin by searching the entry chamber of the tower; this large room has two alcoves with strange statues of squid-headed humanoids and a single staircase leading upwards. There is also a huge pile of decaying Orc remains in the middle of the chamber

Ignoring the Orc remains for the time being, the party splits up and begins searching for hidden doors

One group, including Elessar, Ash, and a few members of the Shadow Guard, immediately falls through a large trap door and down a curious metal chute into the darkness below

The party lowers Tom on a rope to see how deep the chute goes but it is very deep and its bottom cannot be discerned. Dropping a coin down the chute, Tom believes he hears a scraping sound indicating that the chute curves further down its depths

Continuing to search the room, Tom begins to head up the stairs, which appear to have a gate and door at the top

Tom does not get far when out of 2 columns, figures of shapely women bearing swords begin to form out of them

The party moves into position but it quickly becomes apparent the Caryatid Columns are not affected by their weapons

Making a desperate attempt to save everyone else, Christopher Lockleaf wraps some rope around one of the a caryatid Columns and leaps down the chute; his weight and momentum pulls one of them down with him

No sooner is the one column dealt with than there is a stirring from the pile of Orc corpses; out of the fetid debris there arises a large skeletal creature with 4 arms, each one brandishing an orcish scimitar

The party focuses fire on the Bone Golem but all of their attempts, including setting it aflame, have no affect on the creature

Zyran bravely moves forward to confront the abomination but is cut to pieces

The party withdraws from the entry chamber and makes a final stand against the Bone Golem just aside the fire and ash pit in the courtyard

It is then that Eugene, holding the line on his own, discovers the creature’s weakness to magic weapons; with a single blow he deals a terrific amount of damage to the golem

From his hiding place in the entry chamber, Tom sees what is happening and picks up Zyran’s fallen weapon, which is magical also

Running outside, right under the legs of the golem, Tom delivers the flail to Bragi, a member of the Shadow Guard

Bragi rushes forward and together he and Eugene slay the golem

As the remaining members of the Shadow Guard and mercenaries haul out the dead from the entry chamber, the party once again enters the tower

The party (now consisting of Tom, Nyx, Eugene, and Bragi) finds a hidden door in the entry chamber and begins exploring the tower in earnest

Most of the party’s exploration goes by uneventfully as the halls are dusty and appear to be little used

The party discovers two more staircases, both spiral, one leading upwards and one down; they also discover another, larger chute leading down into the darkness

The final room of exploration is sealed with a metal door inscribed with symbols

Eugene kicks the door in after it is checked for traps and proves to be locked but has no visible locking mechanism

Tom enters the room to find a medium sized chamber with a circle carved onto the floor and more inscriptions. The far corners contain large candelabras

Tom is then assaulted from above by a floating creature which appears to be a brain with a beak and armed with 10 venomous tentacles

Hearing Tom’s cry, the party rushes into the room

The monster, a foul Grell, is incredibly fast, but its attacks are wild and not very effective — against any, aside from Nyx

Sustaining 5 simultaneous attacks from the Grell, Nyx is crushed to death in an instant

The party defeats the Grell and begins to search for a way out of the tower, eventually working their way back to the entry chamber

Stepping into the predawn light, the party carries Nyx’s body into the courtyard …

Elessar awakens to find he is alive, but is not sure whether that is good news or bad. He is strung up in a net suspended from the ceiling of a rough-hewn cave along with several mercenaries. Ash is in another net a few feet off, though it is not known whether she is alive or dead.

A cursory check confirms that the mercenaries are dead. Elessar manages to free his dagger and cuts open the net to affect an escape route. The sound of the dead bodies hitting the floor arouse the alarm and Elessar drops to the floor and readies his bow.

Soon the chamber is flooded with several Fire Newts. Elessar maims one with an arrow but is quickly outnumbered and manages a rough conversation with them in the Evil alignment dialect.

The Fire Newts indicate that he is to be taken to the Old Ones. Elessar is stripped of his weapons and armour, his hands are bound, and he is led through numerous similarly rough-hewn halls, occasionally glimpsing through openings on his left and right vast ash pits like the one in the tower courtyard. Elessar guesses there must be hundreds of Fire Newts in these caverns.

After a time Elessar is brought to an antechamber guarded by orks. There is a huge double door, ornately carved with a foreign script or runes. Beyond the doors is a vast chamber, very dimly lit. Huge pillars run from the floor to the ceiling, but are not made of stone. Instead they appear to be made of clear glass. Inside each is a flowing liquid giving off a blue iridescent glow. Elessar thinks he may see shapes writhing within the liquid.

At the far side of the hall is a raised dais with four thrones. Elessar is brought forward and can see that on each throne sits a creature that looks like the statues in the tower above: humanoid bodies draped in robes are topped with octopus-like heads, each with 4 tentacles. The creatures’ skin is deep purple and their eyes are white and without pupils.

Elessar quickly learns that these creatures are telepathic. One of them speaks directly into his mind and tells him that he will help them get the stone at the top of the tower.

The creature explains that the stone is a source of great power and they need it to return home. There is a barrier around the stone that prevents them from getting near it and anyone dominated by their mental powers is freed from its bonds and subsequently goes mad.

In exchange for his life, Elessar promises to help the creatures. They tell him that his companions are still within the tower and he will need their help.

After returning his gear to him, a group of 4 Fire Newts escorts Elessar back to the surface so he can convince his companions.

Meanwhile, back on the surface …

Eugene and Bragi hold funeral rites for the fallen dead and their companions. An Elf on the Shadow Guard, Tempest Nightingale, is moved by their heroic deeds and tells them she wishes to join them in their quest.

Speaking with Chirstopher Lockleaf, she breaks her ties with the Shadow Guard and begins her career as an Adventurer!

Just then something very strange happens. The tower ripples as if it is made of cloth and its appearance changes from that of a typical tower to a strange conical design topped with strange lights. The tower now appears to be made of a white substance that is neither metal nor stone. Strange oval windows let out an eerie light.

Taking a few of the remaining mercenaries with them, the party ventures back into the tower. There they are reunited with Elessar and they bring each other up to date.

The party is then met by one of the Mind Flayers who opens the door at the top of the stairs. The party ventures into a series of halls and find a strange machine that they do not investigate.

They eventually reach a door and the Mind Flayer appears again and informs them that behind the door is the guardian for that level, a creature of fire.

The party enters a huge circular room with a well in the center and doors (locked) on the far side. Before they can cross the chamber, a fire elemental comes charging out of the well and attacks the party.

The party fights the elemental and manages to escape, but the elemental chases them down. Bragi and Eugene stay behind and eventually the creature flees back down the well.

Climbing a spiral staircase, the party comes to a small room. A second staircase identical to the first leads upwards. After a careful search, the party finds a secret door.

[side note: Eugene triggered TWO poisoned needle traps and made both of his saving throws!!]

There is a narrow corridor leading forward with a door at the far end. Unfortunately, the party triggers a pit trap and Tom falls in, sustaining significant damage. They party is able to pull him back up and get him healed.

Rigging a rope bridge, the party manages to cross the pit, but all of the mercenaries die in the attempt. The room beyond is small and contains the strangest sight they have seen yet:

There is an ornate metal chest in the middle of the room and atop is sits a single black cat. Eugene knocks the cat off of the table and kills it, but the cat regenerates instantly and jumps back on top of the chest.

Eugene kills the cat again, severing it in two with his axe. The cat instantly reforms on top of the chest.

Elessar stabs the cat through its skull, skewering it and sending its entrails flying. He then swings his sword and hurls the cat onto wall. The cat simple regenerates again and climbs back atop the chest.

Tempest successfully puts the cat to sleep and the party carefully place the cat on the floor. Then they turn their attention to the curious chest …

• Opening the chest, the party discovers that it must have belonged to a high level magic user; within the chest are vials, some filled with powder, others with liquid. There are also a few curious items: a pair of boots, two monocles that look like they connect together to form spectacles, a medallion, a small cube fashioned from black stone, and 2 wands or rods. There is also a small pouch with 25 gems.
• After carefully removing and examining the loot, Elessar gingerly places the Guardian Familiar back into the chest. The party then back-tracks past the pit. They drop the body of Bragi into the pit and using several flasks of oil, set the bodies of Bragi and the dead mercenaries on fire.
• The party moves on.
• Ascending the spiral staircase they come to another room with a single door. On the far side of the room is a long table with arms an armor piled high upon it. There is also a Mind Flayer in the room.
• The Mind Flayer ‘tells’ the party that they will need to replace their missing party member; he offers a prisoner, who is chained to one wall. His name is Apollo and he is a Cleric. Apollo has no memory of how long he has been imprisoned and at first doesn’t even know what plane he is on.
• The Mind Flayer also tells the party that they can take whatever weapons and armor they wish from the table to aid them in their mission. Many of the items are obviously enchanted; all of them are well cared for, but worn; the party surmises that they belonged to victims of the Mind Flayers.
• Once suited up, they realize that the Mind Flayer has left. The party decides to set up camp and rest up.
• After their rest period, they go through the door into the chamber beyond. It is a large chamber and the only thing that can be seen faintly to one side is a scarecrow. Eugene moves forward before the party can stop or warn him and attempts to set the Scarecrow on fire.
• The Scarecrow and its 3 companions, also scarecrows, animate and attack the party. Tom, Tempest, and Apollo, all fall victim to the Scarecrow’s gaze and are paralyzed with fear. Eugene and Elessar hastily throw their companions back through the door and face off against the Scarecrows.
• One Scarecrow makes it into the chamber beyond where Elessar is, leaving Eugene to fight solo against the remaining 3. Covering their eyes, they take wild, blind swings at the Scarecrows, sometimes connecting, often times not. The Scarecrows scratch and claw at Elessar and Eugene in an attempt to touch or scratch them and hold them under their thrall as well.
• One Scarecrow makes a devastating attack on Elessar and his buckler shatters under the eldritch might of the attack.
• Slowly, steadily, swing after swing, Elessar and Eugene beat back the Scarecrows and eventually defeat them!
• After rousing their fallen comrades, the party wastes no time in seeing what the Scarecrows were guarding. The room contains two large arched doorways, one with a staircase leading up, the other down.
• Following the stairs up, they come upon a small platform in a vast chamber. The sound of dripping water can be heard and there is a mustiness in the air. A single ladder leads down into the gloom. Tom is sent down to investigate and when he returns he reports that there is indeed water at the bottom but it is at the staggering depth (to him) of 2 and a half feet!
• The party retraces their steps back to the room of the Scarecrows and tries the downward stairs. This opens into the bottom of the same chamber. Within their torchlight, Elessar spies a boat tied along a side wall. Apollo sets out to retrieve the boat and sees what appears to be a bricked-over passage.
• The party explores some of the chamber but cannot find a safe way out; there are two chains suspended from holes in the ceiling and a platform in the middle with a grate that leads to a cramped subterranean tunnel, but no clear exit.
• The water also has an unwholesome look; it is brackish and slimy, and gives of a foul odor.
• Even more alarming are the two large shapes that are staying just out of their torch light.
• The party decides to try and break down the bricks blocking the passageway on the side. Eugene and Elessar set about this task, leaving the others to stand guard.
• As they pound at the stones, the creatures move in closer. They are green and covered in slime …